Empty Nest
Sponsored section ►►page 22
Laws of Life
Rotary honors South and West high school students ►►page 24
Tax Day, baby Newborn awarded college scholarship on April 15 ►►page 8
Cleaning up the county
Volunteers pick up litter throughout Forsyth ►►page 27
April 23, 2014 | forsythherald.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 17, No. 17
Activist or troublemaker? Two years later, Nydia Tisdale still told to shut off video camera By ALDO NAHED aldo@forsythherald.com CUMMING, Ga. — Nydia Tisdale set up her camera April 17, 2012, at the Cumming City Council chambers only to be told by longtime Mayor H. Ford Gravitt she could no longer videotape the city’s meeting. Tisdale sued the mayor and city for infringing on the state’s open meetings law and her rights as a citizen. While the federal and state lawsuits are still entangled in the courts, the camera-wielding activist continues to be ALDO NAHED/Staff
Georgia Institute of Technology’s model airplane came in third place at the SAE Aero competition.
Future aerospace engineers compete Model plane designers from 75 universities participate By ALDO NAHED and HATCHER HURD aldo@forsythherald.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The six members of the Union College team put the final touches on their model airplane during the SAE Aero Design event that took place April 11 through April 13. The team finagled with the electric motor and made sure the one-horsepower plane was OK to fly. Then, team advisor Brad Bruno, who has been bringing
teams to the SAE Aero Design East for four years, let out a long sigh. “I said we were not going to use tape this year,” Bruno tells his team. Bruno, whose New Yorkbased team ended up in eighth place at the SAE Aero Design East 2014 regular competition, said events like this help to prepare teams for the real world. “Nature is a harsh mistress,” Bruno said. “If they made a mistake, it will show in a big way.”
But even with mistakes, the 75 universities represented and seven countries worldwide dubbed the event “a success.” The facilities and community were accommodating, from hotels and restaurants to the Forsyth Conference Center and Georgia Model Aviators airfield on Old Federal Road in north Forsyth. Competitors came from all over the world to the Georgia Model Aviators Club field on
See PLANES, Page 28
booted from meetings. The latest was Wednesday, April 16, nearly two years to the day after her initial encounter in Cumming. This time, Tisdale was told to shut off her camera at an event held by the Republican Women of Forsyth County. Peggy Green, secretary for the Republican Women of Forsyth County, said she didn’t want to have Tisdale record the event because she’s a “troublemaker.” The Forsyth Herald and Forsyth County News were
See VIDEO, Page 6
Alleged bank robber runs out of gas, luck FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect in the robbery earlier this month of the Chase Bank at 1710 Buford Highway. On Tuesday night, April 15, Stephen C. Plunkett, 39, of Dallas, Texas, was taken into custody at 10:45 p.m. after he ran out of gas on Ga. 400 near McFarland Parkway. On April 9, Plunkett allegedly used a note and an “explosive device” in the drivethru at Chase Bank on Buford Highway in Cumming. He used a Hyundai rental under his name out of Texas to pull off the bank robbery. The car was reported stolen after it was not
returned. Plunkett got an undisclosed amount of cash and the device used to rob the bank turned out to be fake. Plunkett On April 15, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Unit had identified Plunkett based on fingerprint evidence located at the scene. Plunkett was driving a Chevrolet Silverado truck when he ran out of gas on Ga. 400
See ROBBER, Page 26